The Sports Inquirer

Despite a combined 45 points from Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter, a late Colorado State run led the Rams to an 80-70 victory over Georgia State on Friday night at Moby Arena.

Leading 62-60 with 5:25 to play, the Rams used a 14-0 run following a technical foul on Harrow to take a 76-60 lead with 1:42 to play, holding the Panthers scoreless for more than three minutes.

Harrow led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 11-of-22 from the floor while dishing out five assists.

Hunter added 19 points, knocking down three of the Panthers eight 3-pointers, swiping five steals. The junior moved into 11^th on Georgia State’s all-time scoring list with 1,195 points and is now just 320 points from the school record of 1,515.

Georgia State fell to 1-2 with the loss while Colorado State improved to 2-0.

“I didn’t necessarily agree with the technical foul, but it is what it is,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “You have to play better when you are on the road and you have to stay composed. We were not able to do that tonight.

“We have to give Colorado State credit. They got down early but stayed composed and slowly worked their way back into the game and took advantage of the situation during the final five minutes.”

The last five minutes of the game was the reverse of the first half where the Panthers had controlled the game.

After Colorado State hit a 3-pointer to open the game, Georgia State responded with a 7-0 run to take an early 7-3 lead.

Leading 10-9, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run that included a pair of Hunter 3-pointers to take a 20-9 lead with 10:46 to play and lead by as many as 12 with 7:58 to play in the opening period.

Georgia State led 34-29 at halftime as Hunter and Harrow combined for 27 points. The Panthers held the Rams to just 31 percent shooting the first half.

Trailing 40-33, Colorado State responded with an 8-0 run to take a 41-40 lead with 15:54 to play.

It was one of seven second half lead changes. The game was also tied seven times during the second half.

Colorado State finished with five players in double figures, including Stanton Kidd’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Daniel Berjarano added 16 points, while J.J. Avila scored 13 points, dished out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds

Redshirt-junior Kevin Ware added nine points for the Panthers while junior T.J. Shipes came off the bench to score six points and pull down six rebounds.

The Rams finished the game 21-of-27 from the free throw line, while the Panthers managed to go just 8-of-17.

With five steals, Hunter moved into seventh on the all-time list with 124.